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Author:
mlincoln (VA)
About 6 to 8 months ago my wife began to complain that when she drew the bath water she would get specks of black material in the water. The specks were about 1 to 2 millimeters in diameter / on a side, and if you smeared them against the bottom of the tub they would smear like old rubber. There were maybe 5 flecks per tub. I went to a big box store and the fellow in the bath aisle said replacing the cartridge in the faucet would fix the problem. Quite honestly I didn't think he was correct, but I switched it out. The problem seemed to slightly diminish afterwards, a few flecks here and there, and we just sort of ignored it.
Tonight we got a LARGE amount of flecks, like 30 or 40 flecks. Tonight the flecks were much larger than before. I emptied the tub and refilled it, and again it spurted out a lot of flecks.
About 5 years ago I replaced the water heater, and instead of putting in new copper pipe--I don't know how to join copper pipe--I used flexible hoses with rubber seals. I wonder if what I am seeing is those seals dissolving.
Does anybody have any idea what this could be? Is it mildew inside the pipes?
Thank you for any info you can provide.
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Author:
steve (CA)
It could be from either the hoses or the washers that seal the ends of the hoses.
Edited 1 times.
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Author:
Wheelchair (IL)
What is the source of your water. City or Well? Do you have a softener, filter in the system?
Best Wishes
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Author:
mlincoln (VA)
We are on city water which is quite good and well monitored and such. We do not have a water softener. The water heater is pretty new, installed 2011, and I replaced the anode rod with a magnesium one in 2013. When I flush the heater I do not get sediment. The water comes out clear.
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Author:
srloren (CA)
I vote for the rubber deteriorating, but when my former water heater failed, the galvanized nipples that came with that older water heater also was deteriorating and causing black crap coming into my tub especially when I turned it on full blast. First eliminate any possibility of galvanized nipples and replace them with copper or brass nipples, then replumb the water heater so that no rubber is used in the connections. Good luck.
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